mayer



F. W. MAYER.

GARMENT RACK.

APPLICATION FILED ocr. 2a. 1918.

1,316,375. Patehted Sept.16, 1919.

FRED W. MAYER, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

GAL EtMENT-RACK.

p fi tinnv fit t n Patented-Sept. 1 6,

Application filed, October as, 1918. Serial K052559380.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, FRED W. a citizen of the United States of America,and a resident of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Garment- Racks, of whichthe following is a specification.

The main objects of this invention areto provide an improved form ofrack for use in supporting hats, coats, and other garments on seats inpublic meeting-places; to provide an improved construction andarrangement of said rack whereby the hat is separately supported fromthe other garments; to provide improved means for attaching the rack toa support whereby it is normally urged.

into a retracted position when not in use and may be readily extendedwhen garments are to be placed therein; to provide improved means onsaid rackso as to enable womens hats having little or no rims to besecured thereto; and to provide a rack of this kind which is simple andinexpensive in construction and which may be re dily attached to almostany form of seat.

An illustrative embodiment of this invention is shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which- I Figure 1 is a sectional view of asimple form of folding theater seat, showing the improved rack attachedto the seat member thereof.

Fig. 2 is a front view of the theater seat with the seat member thereofin its upright folded position so as to present a bottom plan of thegarment rack.

Fig. '3 is a front View of the seat member.

Fig, 4 is an enlarged sectional detail of one of the extensiblesupporting devices by which the rack is suspended on the seat member.

The improved form of rack comprises a framel attached by a plurality ofextensible'devices'2 to a support or seat member 3, said devices beingconstructed so as" to normally urge said frame toward said supportwhereby said frame when not in use is retained in a retracted positionrelative to said support and when in use yieldingly clamps thegarmentsagainst dislodgment.

In the specific embodiment herein shown, the frame 1 is a wireconstruction comprising a perimetric wire preferably formed of a singlepiece, the sides and back of which 7 are substantially in the form of aU. The

front part of said perimetric wireis doubled in upon itself alsosubstantially in the form of a U and is disposed in a plane slightlybelow that of the U-shaped formationof the sides and back andsubstantially parallel thereto as appears from :Figs. 1' and 3. Loops 4:are formed in' said perimetrie wire for the purpose of affording meansfor connecting with the extensible devices 2. These loops are preferablyat the sides near the front, and at the back nearthe middle, and are sodisposed that the -extensible members are located'outside of the generalcontour of the perimetric wire.

In racks of similar character hereto-fore in use, the coat or othergarment placed therein has been made to rest directly upon the brim ofthe hat, which has frequently resulted in injury to the hat,*Inthe'construction shown in the drawing, this injury is obviated byproviding a pair of intersecting cross wires 5 disposed substantially inthe plane of the U-shaped formation of the sides and back of theperimetric wire. The cross wire contacting with the perimetric wire areadapted to support garments between the same and said support, whereasthe doubledin part of the perimetric wire serves as a support for thehat with the brim of the hat resting on the wire and the crown suspendedbelow. As shown in Fig. 2, one endjo f'each of the wires 5 is securedtoftheperimetric wire at the forward end thereof adjacent to the frontpair of loops 4. The, opposite end of each of the wires 5'is passed overthe diametrically opposite part of the perimetrie wire and is then bentdownwardly and back soas to be secured to the base part off he u-shapedformation of the front part; of the pe'rimetric wire and'provides asupportfoi' the rear end thereof. U I

The extensible means or devices Qeaeh comprise a pluralityofcyli'ndrica'l members 6, 7, and 8 telescopingly arranged one withintheother. A spring-9 is located between the membersGand 7-so as toembrace the latter, and a second spring 10 is located'within the member7 soas to embracethejmem: her 8. The members 7 and 8313 provided withheads 11' and ,12,respeetively formed on the inner ends thereof, and themembers 6 and 7 areiformedwithshoulders 11 and 12 at their lower ends.The springs 9, and 10 bear againstthe resp.ective 'heads andshoulderandnormally urge the respectivejmembers into their retracted positions;Screws 13 are carried on the outer ends of the members 8. The stem ofeach of these screws is adapted to pass through one of the loops 4 andbe screwed into the end of a member 8 for the purpose of securing thewire frame 1 to the respective supporting devices. The loops 4' looselyembrace the screws 13 and also fit loosely between the heads of thescrews and the members 8 as appears in Fig. 4. This loose connection ofthe loops 4 to the screws prevents bending of the frame and supportswhen the rack is extended.

In order that the frame when not in use may be held as closely aspossible to the support 3 and yet at the same time allow for the maximumextension when it is to be used for retaining garments, the members 6 ofthe supporting devices 2 have flanges 1% formed thereon intermediate theends. This enables the supporting devices to be attached to the support3 with about half of each of the members 6 extending through holes inthe support 3 up into the upholstery of the seat. The flanges 14 are ofcourse provided with apertures through which screws or other fasteningmeans may be inserted for the purpose of attaching the members 6 to saidsupport. Thus the members 6, 7, and 8 may be longer than would be thecase if the outer members were to be attached directly to the bottom ofthe support 3. The result is that, when not in use the frame is heldwell up against the seat, but may be extended to accommodate a verylarge folded-over garment, as will be. obvious from Fig. 1.

The support 3 is herein shown in the form of a seat member, being a partof a folding seat and pivotally attached at 15 to a bracket 16 so thatit may be folded up against the back member 17 when the seat is not inuse.

A knob or handle 18 is secured to the cross wires 5 at the intersectionthereof for the purpose of providing means for enabling one to grip theframe when it is to be pulled out away from the support 3 to allowgarments to be deposited between the cross wires and said support. Thisknob 18 also serves as an obstruction to prevent the hat from beingaccidentally dislodged from the frame. The reason for this is that whenthe hat is set in on the frame it is necessary to tip the rear edgethereof (relative toits position on the rack) downwardly a little so asto allow said rear edge to pass the knob. Having been thus placed on therack the hat cannot be removed without again tipping it slightly to passthe knob,which tilting cannot occur accidentally.

The member 18 is provided with a plurality of apertures 19 extendingdiametrically therethrough, through which hat pins may be inserted whenit is desired to secure a womans hat in the rack where the hat iswithout a brim of sufiicient size to rest on the frame, as in the caseof a toque.

When the rack is not in use, it is normally urged into a retractedposition relative to the seat member 3, substantially as indicated inFigs. 1 and 3. When one desires to place a garment such as an overcoat,and a hat, therein, the coat is folded up and, with one hand graspingthe knob 18 and pulling the frame out away from the seat 3, the coat isplaced in upon the cross-bars 5 below the seat 3. The hat may also beplaced in the rack so that the brim thereof rests upon the doubled-infront portionof the perimetric wire, with the crown suspended below.

Although but one specific embodiment of this invention has been hereinshownand described, it will be understood that numerous details of theconstruction shown may be altered or omitted without departing from thespirit of this invention as defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. The combination with a seat, of a garment rack comprising a frame,extensible means supporting said. frame on said seat, said extensiblemeans each comprising 'a plurality of hollow members nested one withinthe other, the outermost member being secured to the seat and theinnermost member being connected to said frame, and springs interposedbetween each pair of said members and independently urging therespective members into their nested relation whereby said frame isnormally urged toward said seat, so that when said rack is not in use itis retained in a retracted position against said seat and when in useyieldingly clamps the garments between said frame and seat. I

2. The combination with a seat, of a garment rack comprising a frame,extensible means supporting said frame on said seat, said seat havingholes formed therein, said extensible means each comprising a pluralityof cylindrical members nested one within the other, the outermost memberbeing provided with a flange intermediate its ends whereby said outermember is secured to the seat with the one end extending into said seatand the other end extending out from said seat, and the innermost memberbeing connected to said frame, and springs interposed between each pairof said members and independently urging the respective members intotheir nested relation whereby said frame is normally urged toward saidseat, so that when said rack is not in use it is retained in a retractedposition against said seat and when in use yieldingly clamps thegarments between'said frame and seat.

3. The combination with a seat, of a garment rack comprising a wireframe, extensible means supporting said frame on said seat, saidextensible means each comprising three or more cylindrical membersnested one within the other, the outermost member of each of said meansbeing secured to the seat, the innermost member of each of said meanshaving removable fastening means thereon and extending through therespective loops so as to secure said frame to said innermost members,and springs interposed between each pair of said members andindependently urging the respective members into their nested relationwhereby said frame is normally urged toward said seat, so that when saidrack is not in use it is retained in a retracted position against saidseat and when in use yieldingly clamps the garments between said frameand seat.

at. A garment rack for seats, comprising a support, a three-piece wireframe, one of said pieces having the sides and back thereof bentsubstantially in the form of a U and disposed in one plane, the front ofsaid frame being doubled in upon itself also substantially in the formof a U and disposed in another plane, the other two pieces being securedat their forward ends to the front portion of said one piece, crossed inthe plane of said sides and back and attached to said back, and thenbrought forward and attached to the rear of said doubled-in portion.

'5. A garment rack for seats, comprising a support, a wire frame, saidframe having the sides and back thereof bent substantially in the formof a U and disposed in one plane, the front of said frame being doubledin upon itself also substantially in the form of a U and disposed inanother plane, crosswires disposed in the plane of said sides and backand adapted to support garments between said wires and said support, anda Copies 0! this patent may be obtained for knob mounted on said crosswires, said knob having an aperture extending therethrough and beingadapted to have a hat suspended therefrom by having a hat pin insertedthrough said hat and said aperture.

6. The combination with a seat, of a garment rack comprising a wireframe, extensible means supporting said frame on said seat, said seathaving holes formed therein, said frame having the sides and backthereof bent substantially in the form of a U and disposed in one plane,the front of said frame being doubled in upon itself also substantiallyin the form of a U and disposed in another plane, cross-wires disposedin the plane of said sides and back and adapted to support garmentsbetween said wires and said support, said extensible means each com-,

prising a plurality of cylindrical members nested one within the other,the outermost member being provided with a flange intermediate its endswhereby said outer member is secured to the seat with the one .endextending into said seat and the other end extending out from said seat,and the innermost member being connected to said frame,

and springs interposed between each pair of 1918. a FRED W. MAYER.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington,D. 0.

